Federal Legislation.

Legislation Needed to Stop the Global Dumping of E-Waste

Congressional Resolution H.Res. 938:

Leading by example in handling e-waste from Congress
A new resolution has been introduced in Congress, calling on congress to develop a plan for managing its own e-waste, which requires the use of recyclers certified to the new e-Stewards standards, which prohibit export of e-waste to developing nations or sending e-waste to prison recycling operations.

The bipartisan resolution was sponsored by Rep. Mike Thompson (CA) and co-sponsored by Rep Gene Green (D-TX), Rep. Mary Bono-Mack (R-CA), and Brian Bilbray (R-CA).

The resolution, H.Res. 938, calls for Congress to establish and implement “a coordinated program for the reuse, recycling, and appropriate disposal of obsolete computers and other electronic equipment used by offices of the legislative branch using only those companies independently certified as meeting the e-Stewards Standard for Responsible Recycling and Reuse of Electronic Equipment, which forbids the export of e-waste to developing countries and use of prison labor.”

Legislation on E-Waste Research and Development

HR 1580: Electronic Waste Research and Development Act
Status: Passed House. Companion bill, S 1397 (Klobuchar) was introduced in Senate, assigned to EPW Committee

Rep Bart Gordon introduced HR 1580, which:

• Authorizes the EPA to award grants for electronic waste reduction research, development, and demonstration projects. Grants will be awarded to educational institutions, working with industry, to conduct research to create innovative and practical approaches to reduce the volume and manage the environmental impacts of electronic waste
• Asks the National Academy of Sciences to conduct a study on how we can reduce the volume of electronic waste, specifically addressing
  • (i) recycling or safe disposal of electronic waste and low value materials recovered from such waste;
  • (ii) designing electronic devices to facilitate re-use and recycling; and
  • (iii) the re-use of electronic devices; and (B) making electronic devices safer and more environmentally friendly, specifically addressing reducing the use of hazardous materials and potentially hazardous materials in electronic devices;
  • the risks posed by disposal of electronic waste; and
  • the current status of research and training programs to promote the environmental design of electronic devices to reduce electronic waste.
• Awards grants to higher education institutions to develop curicculum on environmental design for electronics

The topic of creating a national approach to e-waste take back had been discussed for many years at the federal level. (See history, below.) The most recent effort was from the Congressional E-Waste Working Group.

Congressional E-Waste Concepts Paper

In March, 2008, a group of eight members of Congress released a draft "Concepts Paper" for federal e-waste legislation. This document was sent to stakeholders - manufacturers, retailers, recyclers, States, NGOs (including ETBC), etc - for comments. The paper is intended to lead to discussion on a federal e-waste solution Stakeholders were asked to comment by March 14, 2008. The members of Congress participating in the discussion on e-waste legislation are:

• Rep Louise Slaughter D-NY
• Rep Mike Thompson D-CA
• Rep Zack Wamp R-TN
• Rep Albert Wynn, D-MD
• Senator Sherrod Brown D-OH
• Senator Maria Cantwell D-WA
• Senator Ron Wyden D-OR
• Federal E-Waste Concepts Paper
• ETBC Comments on Federal Paper